In Place (Key players signed or restricted free agents past Season 8)

Three Questions

1. I bet the Madrid Royals are furious at Lisbon H.C. OK, that’s not a question, is it? It wasn’t, but technically, adding that last sentence made the whole entry end with a question mark, so it qualifies. Yes, Madrid fans, ownership, players, dogs … even Spanish butterflies are fuming over what Lisbon did to them at the end of last season. Madrid enjoyed its best season ever in Season 7 and hopes were running super high in Spain. The Royals came close to booting Bratislava from the top seed spot in the Southern Conference and that race came down to the final two games of the regular season. Maybe they were too focused on grabbing that top spot, maybe they overlooked the sixth seed, but for whatever reason, the Royals’ very promising season crashed to an abrupt end when Lisbon beat them handily in six games of the first round of the playoffs. Madrid’s normally strong offense sputtered for a few games against Kari Ramo and Lisbon and that proved costly. With Lisbon moving into the Demitra Division this year, that means more games between the two teams in what is probably the league’s hottest rivalry at the moment.

2. What’s with playing guys with lower OV ratings ahead of guys with higher OV ratings? Whether it is the genius of coach Dan Bylsma – the franchise’s only-ever coach – or the influence of General Manager Tony B, Madrid seems to be excellent at finding chemistry between Royals players. Who doesn’t play Shea Weber and Erik Karlsson together every single game? The Royals, that’s who, and the strategy paid off because both superstar defensemen regularly had enough stamina to excel on the team’s special teams units because one of them would play only second-pairing minutes when the teams skated 5-on-5. At center, Patrik Berglund received more ice time than Derek Stepan or Sean Couturier … because he deserved it and because the team kept winning with him playing 21 minutes per game on average. Rookie Reto Suri played well enough in practice to earn him starts on the pro team, and he did well enough in the beginning of the season to warrant third-line duty. He finished with 32 points, which is impressive for a rookie who was a second-round draft pick for his team. One area of concern for the team is penalty killing. The Royals were near the top of the league in all team stats except for penalty killing. Sean Couturier is a no-brainer to get out there when a Royal skates to the box, but team execs are toying with the idea of changing things up and putting mostly newcomers on the SH units. Those players will surely be watched closely by Bylsma and Tony B.

3. There was a lot of turnover since last season. Good or bad? Like some other teams, the Royals struggle with finances and had to cut bait with a lot of players including a whale of a defenseman in Shea Weber. One trade and a lot of free agent departures/arrivals give Madrid a different look and feel this season. Overall, it looks like all the changes resulted in an improvement. Weber can’t be replaced, so expect defensive numbers to droop this season. But it’s not like the Royals signed people off the street to play for him. Newcomer Marc-Andre Bourdon is tough and good at tying up forwards and blocking shots. Having untried Colin Miller and Steven Santini in the lineup to start the season will not help win games or make goalie Robin Lehner feel more secure, but they are cheap, so they will help stay under the cap while they’re giving it the old college try and learning. The addition of Craig Smith, acquired in a trade with Munich, will help the Royals a lot. Smitty is offensive-minded and he has no glaring deficiencies aside from, perhaps, size. Bylsma has him penciled in on the second line with team captain and 40-goal man Gabriel Landeskog, as well as sterling center Sean Couturier. That trio would be the top line in a lot of cities. Ahead of them on the tentative depth chart are Blake Wheeler, Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider, who are all coming off their best-ever seasons, each with at least 25 goals scored. Madrid doesn’t quite have Milan-type depth among its forwards, but the Royals will get wins some nights due to the play of their “Pat lines” centered by Patrik Berglund and Patrick Thoresen. Their left side is especially strong with Landeskog, Kreider and newcomers Luke Adam and Gareth Roberts.

Mike Fisher has scored 50 goals on 501 EURO League shots with Copenhagen. He also has 95 assists.

Jussi Jokinen, Zurich Lions

Geneva signs goalie Kari Lehtonen to up to 4 years at $9 million per season.

DENVER, CO. – DECEMBER 19: Colorado goaltender Semyon Varlamov stretched out before the game Thursday night. The Colorado Avalanche hosted the Edmonton Oilers in an NHL game at the Pepsi Center Thursday night, December 19, 2013. Photo By Karl Gehring/The Denver Post